San Francisco Youth Commission
Immigration & Employment Committee
Minutes
Thursday, January 29, 2015
5:00-7:00 PM
City Hall, Room 345
1. Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Pl.
San Francisco, CA 94102

There will be public comment on each item.


Members: Luis Avalos, Emily Guo, Michel Li, Joyce Wu, David Zheng

1. Call to Order and Roll Call

Committee Chair Wu called the meeting to order at 5:20 p.m. Commissioners present: Emily Guo, Joyce Wu, Luis Avalos; Commissioners absent: Michel Li, David Zheng. There was quorum. Staff present: Allen Lu.

2. Approval of Agenda (Action Item)

There was no public comment. Commissioner Avalos, seconded by Commissioner Guo, moved to approve the agenda. This motion was approved by acclamation.

3. Approval of Minutes (Action Item)

A. January 15, 2015
(Document A)

There was no public comment. Commissioner Guo, seconded by Commissioner Avalos, moved to approve the minutes of January 15, 2015. The motion was approved by acclamation.

4. Public Comment on Items not on Agenda (Discussion Only)

There were none.

5. Business (All Items to Follow Discussion and Possible Action)

A. Presentation on the 2011 Immigrant Youth Summit

Mr. Lu shared the 2011 Presentation to the Board of Education of the Immigrant Youth Summit which provided an overview of the proceedings and preliminary findings. At the Summit held on October 28, 2011, 99 students from SFUSD’s English Language Development programs came out and shared challenges: lack of employment, lack of resources, sense of programs and organizations being out of reach, language barriers, communication with teachers, adjusting to the American life, and access to medical care. The participants also came up with solutions including more outreach and resources, professional development and diversity training for teachers, and ensuring that students feel safe in asking for help.

Commissioner Avalos commented about the importance of integrating a discussion of health care into the next Immigration Youth Summit. Commissioner Wu asked her colleagues if anyone would like to be the primary lead to put on an Immigration Youth Summit. Commissioner Avalos volunteered.

The committee discussed the timeline for when the summit would happen, the format of the event, the intention of the summit, and who they could outreach to. Commissioner Wu asked if parents would be able to come along as well. The committee members were interested in exploring that option.

There was no public comment.

B. DACA Resolution Follow-Up & Updates

Joyce updated the committee about amendments to the DACA in a House resolution and also about the lawsuit in Pennsylvania. Staff provided additional depth to the lawsuit and what it means for DACA.

Commissioners Wu and Guo will contact and update their offices about DACA movements at the federal level. The committee reaffirmed the need to collect more stories to support this initiative.

Members of the public inquired about what the naturalization process was like, the benefits and disadvantages of applying for DACA, and the challenges to citizenship. Commissioner Avalos shared his perspectives and thoughts on the history of policies from the Senate. He felt that the partisanship at the federal level is hindering the progress of immigration reform, “The Republicans want to deal with the legal system right now while the Democrats want to focus on the immigrants here and help them first.”

There was no additional public comment.

C. CBA Youth Town Hall Updates

Chair Wu described what CBA’s were to the members of the public. She reminded that the community liaisons will be meeting with the committee on February 12th. The committee spent time working on a presentation.

There was no public comment.

D. ELL/ESL Student Survey Updates

Staff shared the most recent survey with proposed updates. The commissioners requested to pass it to the SAC and include Christina Wong on the email. Commissioner Avalos reminded the committee that he would like this to be an annual dissemination.

There was no public comment.

6. Staff Report

Staff updated the committee about Youth Advocacy Day, the NEN Awards, and the Summer Resource Fair.

There was no public comment.

7. Executive Committee Report

Commissioner Avalos shared upcoming items/presentations for the next Full Youth Commission meeting.

8. Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 6:38pm.